


relive your crimes

by dontgotothenetherworld



Category: Beetlejuice - Perfect/Brown & King
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:01:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24631225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dontgotothenetherworld/pseuds/dontgotothenetherworld
Summary: based on a headcanon from my tumblr blog with the same username. posted dec. 4, 2019, dec. 13, 2019, and mar. 9, 2020.
Kudos: 6





	1. relive your crimes

**Author's Note:**

> 338 words
> 
> cw: angst, obviously

beetlejuice was pulled back into the netherworld. he took one last glance at his friends before the door shut on him.  
“beetlejuice!” the demon in charge yelled at the recently dead man.  
beetlejuice turned to the angry demon, with tears streaming uncontrollably down his face. “what.” he croaked out, his voice riddled with defeat.  
“be-” the demon choked on his words. never before had he seen beetlejuice this sad. the usually apathetic demon was overcome with what would be a minuscule amount of emotion to a living human, but was more emotion than they had experienced in their millennia long life.  
but as soon as it was their, it was gone.  
“beetlejuice!”  
“not only were you speaking to them without a permit, you weren’t even scaring them! quite the opposite, you were befriending them!” the demon screamed.  
beetlejuice doubled over, still sobbing, knowing that whatever was to come next was sure to be horrible.  
the demon kneeled next to him, to make sure he heard what they were saying, “you thought you deserved to live. you still think that way, don’t you?” they sneered.  
beetlejuice nodded.  
“were you happy?” the demon switched tones to something more light.  
“i-it was the only time i,” he sniffled, “i’ve ever been happy.” he broke down anymore.  
still with the sickly sweet tone, the demon replied, “would you like to go back?”  
beetlejuice looked up at the demon, the desperation obvious in his eyes.  
“yes! of course! i’d do anything to go back!” he immediately regretted his choice of words, but it was to late to go back now.  
“oh don’t worry, lawrence. you don’t have to do anything to go back.” the demon stood up, seemingly growing.  
beetlejuice looked confused. this couldn’t be that easy.  
“i sentence you, lawrence beetlejuice shoggoth, to spend an eternity reliving your crimes! you will relive the moment you decided to make contact with the breathers to this very moment over and over again!” they announced for all the netherworld to hear.  
“and maybe you’ll learn your lesson.” they muttered under their breath.  
beetlejuice began breathing heavily, “no. no no no!”  
but it was to late.  
there he was, at emily deetz’s funeral.  
everything was exactly as it had been the first time.  
except…  
were there people watching him?  
could they see him?  
what the hell…


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so reading this is kinda confusing bc the beetlejuice you read this through isn’t in control of his body. let me explain a bit before you get into it; beetlejuice’s actor (whoever it is that night) is in control of beetlejuice’s body- his actions, his words, everything. beetlejuice, the one stuck in a loop, is in control of his own mind. as fits with my original hcs, beetlejuice is sometimes to break through his restrictions, and is able to move however or say whatever he wants. but only occasionally. i hope this makes sense and i hope the way i describe this happening in the fic isn’t annoying!
> 
> 414 words

beetlejuice looked out, stunned. everything was the same as the first time except one major thing. he was now onstage. this time, all of it would be played, live, for others to enjoy it.  
“that sick bastard.” he said, quiet enough that no one heard it. beetlejuice didn’t even get to enjoy the time with his friends, because he has to perform for these people.   
“you’re invisible when you’re sad.” lydia sung.  
well that’s new too. last time, this whole funeral was a big snoozefest. being honest here, lydia didn’t really strike beetlejuice as the singing type.  
an awkward silence fell over the stage. without consciously realizing it, beetlejuice began to speak. it was almost as if he wasn’t in control of his body, and he was just kinda there, watching. “holy crap! a ballad already?”  
“and such a bold departure from the original source material!” original source material? beetlejuice thought, is the source material what originally happened? ‘cause yeah, lyds singing and such is way different than what really happened.  
the body beetlejuice was occupying leaped forward and began to sing.  
beetlejuice sat back, so to speak, and watched the show. the lyrics are kind of fun. you’d think beetlejuice came up with them himself!  
“thank you, thank you, thank you, that was an old scadinavian folk song. i like tot think i put my own spin on it, but what’s the point, you know? i mean, you saw these schmucks up here. they look right through me. i’m invisible. powerless.” beetlejuice except not really beetlejuice monologued.  
“heh. like a gay republican.” the real beetlejuice added.  
wait a minute? beetlejuice added? he was able to say things?  
beetlejuice tried again, “but here’s the good news. i found a way to make everyone see me. all i gotta do is get a living person to say my name three times.”  
well… that didn’t work. beetlejuice definitely wasn’t trying to give the audience some exposition. he was trying to tell them to go fuck themselves.  
for the most part, beetlejuice just spent the rest of the musical watching what happened. he enjoyed the music, but he especially enjoyed the insight on his friend’s lives. as he learned, people reveal a lot about how they’re feeling when they’re singing.  
he cried when he had to be pulled back into the netherworld. not just beetlejuice cried, but the body he was in too.  
and then he was there again, standing on stage.  
“holy crap! a ballad already?”


	3. relive your crimes 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i had the idea for this part a few days ago, and i liked it to much to not write it lol
> 
> basically, my weird real beetlejuice trapped inside his actor thing is at the macy’s thanksgiving parade.
> 
> 520 words

how long had it been since beetlejuce started this infernal loop? he had no real way of telling. he had stopped counting after fifty days. or would it be performances? shit the fifty days probably wasn’t even fifty days…  
anyway, it had been a long time since he had stopped counting. and for some reason, at the end of every loop, he thought he would finally be released. sometimes he was extra cruel, to show the demons back in the netherworld that he had learned his lesson. but sometimes he was extra kind, to show his friends that he really did care about them. nothing was really working.  
beetlejuice pushed and shoved at the body he was in to do something different. he had gotten a good feel for when in the loop he could add his own.  
it wasn’t very often. he was glad that there was space to move around, but he craved something more. he craved something new.  
a cold autumn morning, outside. when was the last time beetlejuice had gone outside?  
he felt the crisp air breathe new life into him.  
he saw his friends, lydia, barbara, adam, charles, and even delilah, standing opposite him. they were singing day-o, and it was so hauntingly beautiful, he nearly lost himself.  
but then the familiar music of beetlejuice’s first song started up. the man holding a camera swiveled around to face beetlejuice.  
he didn’t know what was going on, just that his wishes and hopes had been heard. something different was happening!  
beetlejuice had to do something to rejoice. he reached out to the camera and shook it back and forth. the freedom of a new movement liberated him.  
beetlejuice took a step back, metaphorically, to take in what was all around him. there were people dressed in cold weather gear, watching him. the mourners were there too, nothing all that different was happening there. even emily’s casket was there! how morbid!  
but what especially surprised beetlejuice was that the lyrics were different. as soon as he was aware he was in a new place, he began trying to figure out new things to say. he figure that a new situation will have more wiggle room, and less people questioning if that was supposed to happen.  
but he had been assuming he would add something to the original song. what the hell was he supposed to add to a song about turkey?  
he didn’t. he tried to break free with movements. it was not easy.  
even at this place, where everyone was celebrating thanksgiving, as beetlejuice had picked up, there was still a small amount of wiggle room.  
beetlejuice didn’t much care though. the new scenery was more than enough for him.  
he did have to do one more thing, though.  
as beetlejuice climbed onto the coffin, he noticed the looseness in his body’s actions. this was something he, the real beetlejuice, could do.  
beetlejuice turned around, back to the camera, to face the audience.  
he waved with both hands. and they waved back!  
they saw him wave, and they waved back! they noticed him! the real him!


End file.
